Residents in several South Shore towns upset about NStar's plan to cut trees

Tuesday

Jun 11, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 11, 2013 at 11:14 AM

Residents in Duxbury, Pembroke and Hanson say they are appalled by NStar’s latest efforts to remove trees positioned near the company’s transmission line.

Patrick Ronan

Greg O’Neal remembers when he lived next to a forest. That was in 1998, when he first moved into his home on Vine Street in Duxbury. But the view outside his home has changed drastically and will continue to change as NStar removes trees it considers a threat to power lines

“This is significant, not only to me but to many, many, many homeowners in town who are going to have really changed views forever,” O’Neal said. “It’s going to affect their property values.”

Residents in Duxbury, Pembroke and Hanson say they are appalled by NStar’s latest efforts to remove trees positioned near the company’s transmission line. Unlike distribution lines, which run along most local roads, the transmission line carries higher loads of electricity over longer distances, connecting the power plants to the individual neighborhoods.

The recent tree work is part of what NStar’s calls its vegetation management program, which started in 2010 and aims to protect its transmission line by trimming and, in some cases, taking down large swaths of trees. In light of recent storms that knocked out power in some local neighborhoods for several days, the utility company has expanded the scope of its program, targeting trees that in years past they chose to let stand.

“Trees are the number one cause of power outages, and we’re committed to providing reliable electric service,” NStar spokesman Michael Durand said. “Tens of thousands of our customers depend on these transmission lines for reliable electric service. And one issue involving a tree has the potential of interrupting power for all of them.”

This year, NStar is going to the edge of its easements, the legal rights-of-access that allow utility companies to trim or take down trees on private property. The size of an easement varies by property.

O’Neal said NStar has already marked off an area on his property, with plans to take down the only remaining trees that shield his view of the transmission lines.

“It’s too aggressive. Legally? Sure, they probably have the right to manage the easement, but we’re really asking them to change their plan so they account more for the homeowner,” O’Neal said.

In Hanson, Selectman Stephen Amico said he has mixed feelings about NStar’s recent work because his brother is one of the homeowners bothered by the removal of trees on his property.

“I said, ‘Look, when you bought the house, you had an easement on the house. What else can I say?’” Amico said. “They knew about the NStar easement. (NStar) just hadn’t exercised their right to use the easement all those years.”

National Grid, the region’s other major electricity provider, also has a vegetation-management plan, which it plans to carry out this summer and fall in Hanover, Norwell, Cohasset, Abington and Rockland. But company spokeswoman Deborah Drew said National Grid’s projects will be “slightly different” from NStar’s.

“We would not remove a tree if it’s not dead, dying or diseased,” she said. “Generally, the trees are trimmed.”

Durand said NStar notifies direct neighbors of all upcoming tree work, typically through door-to-door visits. If someone isn’t home, a representative will leave a door hanger containing information about the project.

Durand said NStar tries to work with individual homeowners to come up with a mitigation plan, which can include planting new vegetation or shaving down tree stumps.

“We, without fail, contact someone who calls us back with questions or concerns,” Durand said.

Residents said they worry about property values as well as the health risks of being more directly exposed to power lines. Martha Lauber of Duxbury said she is also concerned about NStar’s use of herbicides to make sure her trees won’t re-sprout. Her family uses well water, and she wonders about chemicals getting into her drinking water, she said.

Lauber said she’s troubled to see that some of the local resistance to the tree cutting has faded in recent weeks, as more neighbors make private agreements with NStar.

“Unless they make individual deals with every one of us, then it’s not equitable,” she said.

Patrick Ronan may be reached at pronan@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @PRonan_Ledger.